Convertible blanket



Feb. 25, 1930. D. STEVENS CONVERTIBLE BLANKET Filed May 10. 1928 iD T i .P aitented Feb; 25, 193:0

' CO VE TI L BLANKET if Application filed May 10,

" f'hThisinvention pertains t 5 b1ani:as-ana more particularly to a blanket so constructed and having such adjunctive'element s' that it 'may serve, as a blanket'in the usual manner or, at ..vvill, may be converted intoa hammock, or arranged so as to function'bothas ahammock and blanket at the same time.

. 1 Usual types'of fabric hammock, so far as a V I am aware, are made either of thin and more orfless open-mesh fabric,'or ofcanvas or similar strong :but harsh and stiff material. To assure ease and comfort, particularlythe proper degree of Warmth, users of suchhammocks "are constrained l to provide a blanket,

pad, or the like to lay in the hammock bottom whereby to ameliorate the harshness. of the V hammock fabric and to preventair from pass- I ing up through the hammock'from' beneath,

and. under many conditionsi'of use to-provide a blanket as a coverlet.' T ,7 In accordance with the present invention,"

provide a blanket'of usual Weave, consisting of any suitable textile fibre such as cotton, silk, artificial silk, etc., but preferably containing a substantial percentage of warmmaterial, for example, wool, camels' hair,:,for like material, and mapped tomake it soft, Warm,

and downy. :This blanket is 5 preferably: re

inforce'diat its opposite ends, conceivably by interweaving, heavy strong weft at these points, but preferably by securing bindings,

of strong icanvas, leatheriorthe'like to the L opposite ends of the blanket I alsd'prefer' H .to provide the lateral-edges With-similar re:

. inforcingbindings which, if desired, may be somewhat narrower: than. the end; bindings.

lfals'offind it advisableto :furnish' the blanket 1 .vvithone or more; intermediate; reinforce 'strips-on onetorbothlsides. These blnding :40

.Iandreinforce elements may be secured to the blanket material by" one or more rows of stitches or inany other desiredmanner and" maybe designed "to impart an ornar'nentalfl appearance to the blanket," as for example by the fuserof' contrasting colors. P 1 I also providea 'serles of fastener elements,

' ilpreferably spaced openings through the inding strips and blanket material at each 7 '-end of the blanket, reinforcingtheedges of thelopenings in any desired manner, asfor exampleby the use of 1928- Serial 276,671.

series of openings may extend 'across'the entire .Width of the blanket or only from one edge to the; central reinforce strip as maybe preferred; I also provide suspension devices for each end of the blanket, such suspension 4 devices being of a type commonly employed forsuspending fabric hammocks and each comprising for'example a rigid ring and a series ofisuspension elements (ropes, chains, or other equivalent means) d verging from STEVENS, .OFZESMCQND, niionn ISLANDVIASSIVGNOR r o Erna nsivroNDMILLs, or ESMOND, -nnonn '1sLAnn',-nconronacrion or. monn ISLAND; r

metallic eyelets. I The Y the ring. Each rope orichain'preferably'has l a loop end adapted tobe passed throughone Y' of the openings at the'end of the blanket and;

to be releasably retained thereinbya suitable 5 interlocking element, for example apiece of I ropefextending transversely of the blanket and which is threaded. through successivef loops of the suspension device. If the blanket be doubled before, the loops" are passed in the daytime or Whenever the air is Warm.

On the other hand if the suspension loo'ps be threaded through the openings in, one half through the openings, the resulting hammock comprises a double thickness of. the soft and 1 only of theblanket, the resulting hammock provides one thickness of' soft'warmmate-f rial for supporting the user .and fa" second .t hickness hich-may be drawn over him asa Y coverlet. It is also possible to pass the loops through ad'ouble thickness of blanket at one a end and through a single "thickness at the fother, thus providing a device somewhat sim'ilar'to a sleeping bag, although suspended in I "the manner'of a hammock,1nW-h1cha single 'plyof the blanket material supports the 1186 I while thei'upper or coverply issecured atits lower end-but is normally free atitsgupper end and at' one side to permit the user. to'slip beneathit. p In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one desirable embodiment of the invention by Way'of example and in the drawe 'ings; 7

is aplan view of theblanket opened out and Without the suspension devices I -Fig. 1

longitudinally andhaving suspension devices Fig. 2 is a plan view oftheblanketdoubled I I at its opposite ends, the suspension devices engaging both plies of the blanket;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the suspension devices at one end engag= ing the lower ply only of the blanket; I

Fig. l is a fragmentary detail, to larger scale, of thelow-erleft-hand corner ofthe device as seen in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modified construction;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic section on-the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a similar section illustratinga further modification.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicatesa'blan'ket which may be .of usual construction, consisting of interwoven warps and wefts and consisting wholly of cotton, :WhOlly of wool, or of any desired mixture of these or other textile materials. This blanket is .napped and finished in accordance with usual methods to give it a soft, warm, and downy surface, and if-desired the blanket may be made more or less waterproof, either in weaving or by subjecting it to a waterproofprccess. V In accordance with my present invention I preferablyereinforce this blanket at its opposite endsrby means of reinforce strips 2 and 3, respectively. These strips may be of any suitable material, but strong anddurable, for -example,.canvas or duck, and these reinforce strips preferably are applied in the form of ibindings, covering the edges of the blanket 'material: The strips may be secured to the blanket in any desired manner as, for ex ample, by means of one or more rows of stitches v VI also prefer to reinforce the lateral edges :o f'th'e blanket as, for example, by applying "binding strips 5 and 6, respectively, to such edges. Furthermore, for additional stre th *C Icontem'plate providing one or more rein force strips'7 extending longitudinally of the blanket, and have here shown one such strip disposed substantially at the central fold line ofthe blanket. The strip 7 may be applied to oneside only of the blanket material or to both sides as may be preferred.

While I have just described the various reinforce elements as consisting of strips of material applied to the completed blanket, I

contemplate that similar results possibly may be obtained by interweaving suitable warps and wefts during the production of the blanket proper. V

I provide a series of spaced openings 8 extending along each end margin of the blanket, such openings preferably passing through the reinforce strips 2 and 3, respectively. Each series of openings preferably extends from one lateral edge to the other of the blanket, although for certainpurposes they need extend-only from onelateraledge-to the central fold'line. The edges of these openings preferably are reinforced, as for example by means of eyelets 9. The article thus provided may be used as a bed or camping blanket in the same way'asany ordinary blanket, or as a sleeping bag as hereafter more fully described. 1

For cooperation with this blanket to permit it to be converted into a hammock, I provide a pair of suspension devices, each preferably consisting of a rigid ring 10 of metal or the like, and a plurality of suspension elements 11, for example cords or chains, attached at one end to the ring 10 and having loops 12 at their other ends for attaching them to the blanket. A convenient mode of attachingthe looped end of the suspension element to the blanket is by passing the'looped end through one of the eyelets 9, as shown in Fig. 5, and then threading a rope or other securing ele ment 13 through the loop. A single short length of rope 13 may in this way be interengaged with all of the suspension elements at one end ofthe hammock, securely holding the suspension elements in place but permitting them to be disconnected from the hammock-at will merely by withdrawing the rope from the loops 12. V i

As shown in Fig. 2, the blanket is doubled along its central line 7 and the loops of-the suspension elements are passed up through aligned openings in the upper and lower plies of the blanket so that the resulting'hammock consists of two plies of the blanket material upon which the user may repose.

The soft, warm surface of the blanket .material makes a very comfortable hammock, and when :used in this manner provides two thicknesses of :the blanket material beneath the user,-eifectually'protectinghim from cold from beneath.

their edges and preferably having the lateral bindings 17 and the end bindings 18..

Reinforced openings 20 for the reception of suspension elements'are provided at the ends of this blanket-as previously described.

In placeo'f uniting the two plies 15 and 16 along both lateral edges and at both ends, they may beunited at one end and at one lateral edge only and provided with independent bindings at the opposite free edges and ends, as shown for example at 21 and 22 in Fig. 8. The employment of a'pair of single blankets rather than a double blanket 'facilitates the "process of manufacture and may in some instances be preferred.

While the arrangements shown in Figs. 2

and "7 are quite desirable when additional blankets are available. for covering the user,

it is possible to, dispense with al-separate Covering blanket, while at the same time enjoyingall of the advantages'ofahammock. Thus, as shown in Fig. 3, the blanket is doubled in the same way as-in Fig. 2,.and

while the suspension deviceat the left-hand.

end of the hammock (as viewed in Fig. :3) is attached to both upperand lower plies ofthe blanket,the suspension device at the right-hand end is securedvonl'y to the lower ply of the blanket, leaving one lateral edge anduthe right-hand'end-of the upper ply I V Fig. 8 maybeused in the same way. {The free. This upperply may ,now be turned back, as indicated at 14,,topern1it the user.

' 1 .to'slip beneath it, the upper ply. now serv v .ing as a blanket or'coverlet to-protect the user from the cold. QThe device shown in combined hammock andv blanket thus provided'is found very'useful by campers, who are restricted as to the amount of. baggage I which they may carry, since it supports the While in Fig. 3 the lower end of the'u-pp'er user above the ground, and provides a soft, warm bed and coverlet, thusf'combining in' one article the advantagesof bothhammock p and blanket. I

i ply is shown'attached-to the, suspension delateral edge of the blanket may beprovided with suitable fasteners, such'as laces, snaps,

orbuttons, sothat when used as shown in Fig; 3, these ledges could'ibe' united, thusj I \formingin effect a -suspended sleeping bag.

'- ing within the scope of the invention asde- .Lfined by'the appended'claims.

Other utilitiesa-nd modificationsof the struc- V ture here shown will doubtlessuoccur to the user, but all, such modifications and substitutions of equivalents are regarded as fall- I claim a 1. A combined hammock-and sleeping bag v comprising a blanket having spaced open-- ings along its opposite edges, theblanket normally'beingfolded'along its median line to formupper and lowerplies with the openings of the upperandlowerplies disposedin superposed pairs, a supporting device for each end vice, this isjnot necessary, the other, a hand it is evident that if desired the free JQ Ma 2 end.

2. A combined hammock and sleeping'bag comprising a blanket having a soft napped surface, flexible reinforce strips of textile fabric extending along each edge of the blan-" ket and along its longitudinal "center line, theblanket having spaced openings alongits opposite end'margi'ns and series of fastener n elements along its opposite longitudinal edges, a suspensiondevice for each end of the blanket, each suspension device comprising a plurality of flexible members each having a loop adapted to project through an opening in the end margin of the blanket,

readily, removable flexible securing members adapted to pass through the loops at the respective' ends of theblanket to unite theblan ket to the corresponding suspension device,

the blanket when fully extended forming a single-ply I hammock with the suspension] loops passing each through a single ply,v when doubled forming atwo-p'ly hammock withthesuspensionloopseachfpassingthrough aligned openings in the upper and lower the loops at the other end passing through the lower ply only, the fastener elements lies, and forming a sleeping bag when douc bled and with'the loops'at one end passing through both the upper and lower plies, and

serving to close. the sleeping bag,thus formed,

along its longitudinal edge, and when wholly released from the suspension devices being useful as an ordinary blanket. I

Signed by me at Esmond, R; 1., this 4th day DEXTER STEVENS.

of the blanket, each supporting device com, I

prising a plurality of flexible members each furnished with a loop element, eachloop element'passing through a pair of aligned openings in the blanket, and a flexible securing,

member extending through the loops at each end of the blanket whereby normally to connect the doubled'blanket at its ends to the respective suspension devices to form a twoply hammock, the securing member, atone i end at least, being readilyremovable there- V ;by'providing for disengagement of the upper .ply at will from the loops at said end while i still engaging them with the lower ply 5 wherebyto" convert the hammock into a 7.

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